The Milwaukee Bucks can’t afford to lose Game 3 because falling prey to the Brooklyn Nets this Thursday would virtually mean elimination for Giannis Antetokounmpo and company. Will the Bucks cut the series deficit in half? Or will the Nets bury Milwaukee deeper? Check out our preview of this game below.
Even the Nets are probably being surprised at the ease of how they’re beating Milwaukee in this series. The Nets have won the first two games of the series at home, which, needless to say, is huge because they can lose both Games 3 and 4 and still return home for Game 5 with the series tied. But with how the series has been going, it seems that there’s no losing that will happen to Brooklyn. The Nets beat Milwaukee in Game 1m 115-107, then pummeled the Bucks again in Game 2, 125-86. The Nets are averaging 120.0 points in the second round on 49.5 percent shooting from the field and 44.4 percent from deep. They’re beating the Nets without James Harden and with the tandem of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving plus the resurgent Blake Griffin. The former Slam Dunk contest champion has learned to play basketball again, as he’s averaging 12.5 points on 58.8 percent shooting and 11.0 rebounds per game in the series, so far.
The Nets are 7-1 against the spread in their last eight games on a Thursday.
The Bucks were among the best 3-point shooting teams back in the regular season, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that based on how they’re playing in the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs against the Nets. So far in the series, the Bucks’ offense has been way off. They’re averaging just 96.5 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting from the field and an atrocious 24.6 percent from behind the arc. Giannis Antetokounmpo is still pumping out good numbers with 26.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, but Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton haven’t been answering Giannis’ call for support. If the Bucks are to avoid a 3-0 hole, they surely need Holiday and Middleton to perform like how Milwaukee fans expected them to prior to the series. Middleton is only shooting 30.2 percent from the field, while Holiday is only making 33.3 percent of his outside shots. Maybe a game at home will shake the rusts off of those struggling shooters.
The Bucks are 4-1 against the spread in their last five playoff games as a favorite.
